1 88 The Canary Book. 



devour both the eggs and progeny ;>f birds when the latter are 

 only a few days old, should they by any chance happen to get to 

 the nest. 



DISTINCTION OP SEX. "How do you know a cock canary 

 from a hen?" is frequently asked, not only by amateur bird 

 fanciers, but by many people who oiily keep canaries because 

 they " like to hear them sing." In answer to the interrogatory, 

 I may say that male canaries are, generally speaking, more 

 masculine in appearance than females. Their contour is usually 

 more gallant-like and their carriage bolder and more erect; 

 they are likewise more spruce and lively in their actions, and 

 more dignified and commanding in bearing. Male birds, too, as 

 a rule, are larger and fuller in the head and body, and stand 

 more erect upon their legs than females ; beside, their plumage 

 is almost invariably richer and more intense in colour. In 

 addition to these differences, it will be found that the tone of 

 voice in male birds is richer, deeper, more mellow, and stronger 

 than that of female canaries. The male birds are, likewise, 

 more mischievous and quarrelsome in their dispositions. But 

 these are not always to be regarded as infallible proofs, for there 

 are exceptions in rules relating to canaries as well as to human 

 beings ; and there are to be found both masculine-looking hens 

 and effeminate-looking cocks in the canary family, the same as 

 there are to be found in the human family masculine-looking 

 women and effeminate-looking men, but they are the exceptions, 

 and not the rule, in either case. A male bird ought to begin 

 to sing, if in good health, and placed ' in a cage by itself, at a 

 very early age. I have known instances of young birds com- 

 mencing to sing at the age of three weeks, and it is by no means 

 an uncommon occurrence for them to sing at the age of one 

 month ; and when five or six weeks old the majority of them 

 sing with great freedom. The best means to use in order to 

 excite them to a display of their vocal powers is to put some- 

 thing upon a brisk fire to fry a piece of ham is best, as it 

 creates more noise in the process of cooking than chops or 

 steaks. The grinding of a coffee-mill, or the shaking to and fro 

 of a few grains of seed in a paper bag, or the sharpening of a 



